Day Trading Journey: FOMO, Then the Daily Loss Limit on MES

Four trading days, twelve screenshots, all off my phone. This is the Day Trading Journey, so same as always: I’m not teaching anybody. It’s my journey, and I’m just recording it.

Quick context if you’re new. I drive rideshare in Austin, about 15 hours a day, seven days a week. I don’t have a PC in the car, so I trade from my phone.

The markets are MES and MNQ. MES is the Micro E-mini S&P 500 futures, the small version of the S&P 500 contract. MNQ is the Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures, the small version of the Nasdaq-100 contract. These are the December 2026 contracts.

Newest trade is up top. Older ones are in the Past trades row further down, each marked Old. On the older trades, where you see dollar numbers, they’re open P&L. That’s what the trade was up at the second I took the screenshot. It’s not closed profit. Those screenshots don’t show how the trades closed, so I’m not claiming anything about that. On the Oct. 7 order screen, the dollar numbers are my target and my stop, not a result.

Oct. 7: FOMO on the first trade, the daily loss limit on the second

Two trades on MES, on the 1-minute and 2-minute charts.

Trade 1: FOMO. I was driving, got in without waiting for displacement, broke my rule, and price went lower. It cost me. What I wrote on the chart:

FOMO, I did not wait for
Displacement

Trade 2: I waited for the double top as the market came down. I saw it as an area price could go back to, but I needed a pattern at the bottom. Once the pattern started forming I waited for displacement and got in after it showed. It would have worked, but Apex’s eval daily loss limit (I think it’s about $1,000) kicked me out automatically, and I missed a $2,000+ profit.

My notes on the chart, word for word:

Tp (REH) double top

Displacement

Hit daily
Loss limit
Fck

Tried to sweep liquidity
But could not then drops,
So if it needs to go lower
Odds are it needs the buystops
Above here to make its
Next move

Eddie's 1-minute MES TradingView chart from Oct. 7, 2026, zoomed in on the same two trades, with Tp (REH) double top marked and the same typed notes, including FOMO, I did not wait for Displacement, Hit daily Loss limit Fck and Displacement — Oct. 7, MES 1-minute: the same notes, zoomed in. Charts by TradingView.

An earlier screenshot from the same day, with my first notes:

Eddie's 1-minute MES TradingView chart from Oct. 7, 2026, an earlier screenshot with a dashed Tp line, two position boxes and his first notes, FOMO and Hit daily Loss limit Fck — Oct. 7, MES 1-minute, an earlier screenshot with my first notes. Charts by TradingView.

The order on screen: 25 contracts, target +$2,781.25, stop -$500.

Eddie's 1-minute MES TradingView chart from Oct. 7, 2026, with an order on screen: 25 contracts, a +2,781.25 USD target at the Tp line, a -500.00 USD stop and a 25-contract limit line, with Discard and Buy buttons at the bottom — Oct. 7, the order screen: 25 contracts, target +$2,781.25, stop -$500. Charts by TradingView.

Plain words for the terms:

Structure shift: price breaks the pattern it was making and starts moving the other way.
Buy-side sweep: price pokes above the recent highs, grabs the buyside, and comes back.
Displacement: a big, fast candle that moves hard in one direction.
Double top: price runs up to about the same high twice and can’t get through it.
FVG (fair value gap): a gap that fast move leaves behind, where the candles before and after it don’t overlap. I boxed it in yellow and labeled it FVG.
Liquidity: spots where a lot of orders are sitting, like buyside and sellside.
Buyside and sellside: buyside is the area just above recent highs, where a lot of buy orders and stops are sitting. Sellside is the same idea below recent lows.
TP: take profit, the price where I plan to get out with the win.
Daily loss limit: the most a prop firm evaluation lets you lose in one day before it kicks you out.

Where I’m at

Same routine. Take the pictures, write the notes right on the chart, review my errors, then go back to the charts and do it again.

If you’re wondering how people trade with somebody else’s money, I wrote down what I found out about prop firms.

Hustle on hustle.

Past trades

Older trades, newest first. Swipe for more.

Old Oct. 2: a loss on MNQ, then the same setup without me

My read: On the first one I expected a structure shift, a fair value gap, then a continuation lower. It didn’t go as expected, and that one was a loss. It worked on the second one, and I didn’t take it.

This trade I took was actually a loss. The strategy did work, but not on the first one. It worked on the second one. I put my notes in there.

The screenshots don’t show my size, my entry, my exit or how much I lost, so I’m not putting numbers on it.

Here’s the first one. I was expecting it to happen on the first one, but it didn’t. This is exactly what I wrote on the chart:

See, this was one of those structure shifts
Fair value gap, and then a continuation. Lower
But I just didn’t want to go as expected

I marked TP down at the lows. Price went the other way and ran up instead.

Eddie's 2-minute MNQ (Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100, Dec 2026) TradingView chart with a yellow box around 9:35 to 9:45, a dashed Ss line near 31,090, a dashed TP line near 30,915 with a hand-drawn yellow arrow down to it, his typed note, and price later rising to about 31,275 — Oct. 2, MNQ 2-minute: my note on the losing trade, with Ss and TP marked. No position or P&L on this screenshot. Charts by TradingView.

So I cut my day short. Then later in the day it actually did happen, on the second one. Same movement, but I did not take it. My two notes, word for word:

It did do it in this trade
In which I did not take,
But I did not take the trade

I can say that it swept up into the fair value gap
And it automatically rejected
Go into the first sell side, for which I don’t know if i’m actually doing it right
Because I do not have my mentor next to me. Correct in me

Eddie's 2-minute MNQ TradingView chart with a yellow box around 10:50 to 11:00, a dashed Tp (sellside) line below, and two of his typed notes about a setup he did not take — Oct. 2, later: a setup I saw but did not take, with Tp (sellside) marked. No position or P&L shown. Charts by TradingView.

Old Oct. 1: MES short 6 right after the open

My read: At the open I waited for it to move: a buy-side sweep, then displacement and an FVG, and it took out the south side. That was my sign, and I rolled into the next liquidity spot.

Right after the market opened, I was short 6 contracts at 7,725.25. The screen showed +$165.00. That’s open P&L at that moment, not a closed trade. My buy stop was sitting at 7,740.25.

Eddie's MES short on a 2-minute TradingView chart, Oct. 1, 2026, just after the market open, showing a -6 position at +165.00 USD open P&L and a buy stop at 7,740.25 — Oct. 1, right after the open: short 6 at 7,725.25, +$165.00 open P&L on screen at that moment, not a closed trade. Charts by TradingView.

Later that morning I grabbed the 1-minute chart. Price was at 7,691.50, and I had a dashed line way down at 7,675.25. There’s no position box on this one, so there’s no P&L to show.

Eddie's 1-minute MES TradingView chart, Oct. 1, 2026, later in the morning, with price at 7,691.50 and a dashed line at 7,675.25 — Oct. 1, later that morning on the 1-minute: price at 7,691.50, dashed line at 7,675.25. No P&L shown. Charts by TradingView.

That afternoon I went back to the 2-minute chart and wrote down what I was waiting for at the open. Word for word, typos and all:

Market open. I wait for it to move
I was waiting for a buy-side sweetp
nd then cost displacement and fvg
And also took out south side, that
Was my sign. I rolled into the next
Liquidity spot

Eddie's 2-minute MES TradingView chart around the Oct. 1, 2026 market open, with Buyside, Sellside and a yellow FVG box marked and his typed note about the setup — Oct. 1: my notes on the setup at the open, with Buyside, Sellside and the FVG marked. Charts by TradingView.

Zoomed out, I marked TP at what I wrote as:

The next obvious liquidity spot

That TP line is down in the same area as the 7,675.25 line on the 1-minute chart. This one shows where I was aiming, not how it closed.

Zoomed-out MES TradingView chart from Oct. 1, 2026, with a dashed TP line under the price and Eddie's note pointing to it, plus Buyside and FVG labels at the right edge — Oct. 1, zoomed out: TP marked at “The next obvious liquidity spot.” Charts by TradingView.

Old Sept. 30: short 12, and one of my bad habits

My read: It took out buyside, so if it wanted to do anything, it had to go to the nearest sellside. And the bad habit: emotion had me in and out, when all I had to do was open up my stop loss.

Eddie's MES short on a 2-minute TradingView chart, Sept. 30, 2026, showing a -12 position at +206.25 USD open P&L, a buy stop, two buy limits and a line marked Tp — Sept. 30: short 12 at 7,772.50, +$206.25 open P&L on screen at that moment, not a closed trade. Charts by TradingView.

I was short 12 contracts at 7,772.50. On the screen right then it said +$206.25. The screenshot is mid-trade. You can see my order lines too: a buy stop at 7,780.25, and buy limits at 7,748.00 and 7,744.50. The 7,748.00 line is the one I marked Tp.

Eddie's 2-minute MES TradingView chart from the afternoon of Sept. 30, 2026, with Buyside, Sellside and Tp marked, red and blue fill arrows, and two of his typed notes — Sept. 30, later that day: my own notes on the chart, Buyside, Sellside and Tp marked. No P&L on this one. Charts by TradingView.

Later that afternoon I wrote two notes right on the chart. This is exactly what I wrote:

Took out buyside so
If it wants to do anything, it has to go to
The nearest sell side

“Took out” means price ran through it.

This is one of my bad habits
It’s emotion playing in and out in out
When all I had to do was just open up my stop loss

A stop loss is the order that takes you out if the trade goes against you. The little red and blue arrows on the chart are my fills. Look how many are bunched up near the top.

This screenshot doesn’t show how my trade ended. I’m leaving the note exactly how I wrote it. That one’s on me.

All of these charts are from TradingView on my phone.

Referral link: that TradingView link is my referral link. If you sign up for a paid plan through it, I may get a $15 TradingView credit (not cash). The free plan works too.

Not financial advice. I’m a beginner recording my own journey. Trading involves risk, and you can lose money.